Armageddon: The Broken Man - ACT 1

Chapter 16 - Return of the King

Chapter 16 - Return of the King

>CADMUS LIDDEL

//REWIND//12__HRS//

I woke up chained to a wall. Deja vu, imagine that.

The floor was slick with lukewarm liquid, and the air was humid and rancid with a metallic stench. Echoes taunted me, but I couldn't see a thing; a bolt of cloth blocked my sight.

"I see you're awake, Mercenary."

The words came from everywhere at once. I wanted to run, to hide, to escape it. I couldn't stand the aches along my spine, and with every word, the muscles twinge, almost in reflex.

"What? Aren't you going to respond?"

Hands, thinner than bones and much colder, set themselves on the sides of my head. I couldn't move; I couldn't even think about it.

In short, I was scared shitless.

"Don't you remember me? Was I that insignificant to you?"

It clicked, just like that. I knew where I was, what had happened, and who the hell was talking to me.

"Where is she?' I bark, only to have my voice break from lack of use. "Where's Willow?"

"She's still on the trade route with the Red Raven. By the time she gets back, you'll be long dead."

I kicked him back hard enough to force him to land right on his smart ass. I pulled against the chains with my entire weight; the rust snapped against the force, setting me free. I just ran towards where I thought was a stairwell. I couldn't take off the blindfold, and I didn't need to; even if I did, my hands were still locked together.

Light filters through the bolt and I know I've made it outside. Footsteps surround me, and I know that I might as well figure out what's about to go down.

"Where am I?" I bark in the direction of a footstep. "Where is she? Where is the Oracle?"

Silence is my only answer.

"Tell me, dammit." I hiss; I'm getting desperate, and everybody knows it.

That's it; my already non-existent patience is up. I jump and swing the chains to my front. I jerk my arms apart and one of the links -- a rustier one, I can assume -- breaks. The distribution is lopsided, and gives me a short chain whip on my left side.

I rip off the bolt of cloth.

"I'm guessing that now I'll have to force you back down, since you've now made a bug fuss."

Rendan sighs, uncurling a beaded whip, meant strictly for torture and punishment. The scabs on my back throb, wincing in anticipation of another beating.

It rushes back in a second; he found me before anyone else, after the attack -- it's all a blur, thinking about it gives me a headache -- and know he's been trying to figure out how I tick. Or, even better, how Ryn's magic works.

Oh, yeah, I'm technically -- emphasis on technically -- Ryn, as of last week. Since I more or less killed him, the universe rewarded me his powers.

I crack the chain whip and it triples in length, instantly. The links morph to connected Mythril blades, forming a single-file, 20-foot line of pure badassery.

Oh, hell yes.

"Have you forgotten my position as a Chiaroscuro king, Lord Rendan?" I scoff, and he only blinks, unimpressed.

"I would ask if you've forgotten about my former position as a royal spellcaster, but I'm afraid you wouldn't know about that."

//SEQUENCES//PLAY//RENDAN__VS__MERC//

The crowd around us forms an oval arena -- the marble underfoot indicates that I'm somewhere in the White Queen's castle. So, if I can slice open the roof, I can find her Majesty, and we can both kick Rendan's ass. Then again, that's only if my luck holds.

He mutters a spell and the queen's old healing brand flares in my chest, showing a glare on my bare chest. He charges forward to close the 30-something feet between us, but I'm preoccupied.

The rune is currently trying to start a rave. I'm, uh, pretty sure runes aren't supposed to be that colorful.

Alright, now it's neon strobe-light mode. Got it.

I end up ducking Rendan's whip with an idiotic grin plastered all over my face. He must have expected me to dodge, because he anticipates my counter-attack too.

He doesn't anticipate a punt to the ribs, though.

He sucks air for a few minutes, and I work away at the ceiling. The whip actually stretches to lash out at the marble, and small chunks of rock drop away with every slice.

A spell sends me to my knees. It didn't really hurt, but the sudden effects shocked me. I couldn't feel my arms or my feet, and my lungs refused to expand enough to properly breathe.

"A royal spellcaster, Mercenary-"

He doesn't get to finish his sentence. I know some magic, too, somehow.

Probably the whole 'Ryn' thing.

I don't kill him, but he definitely passes out. I barely get a chance to react before the spell drains the strength from my limbs, and I end up straight on my face.

"Amateurs." A voice -- a familiar one, but I can't place it -- scoffs, and a boot rolls me over onto my back.

Quicksilver is all I see before waking up, drenched in cold sweat.